A Proposed Attribution for the Saint Cecilia in Dulwich

We published an anonymous painting held at the Dulwich Picture Gallery (here, asking our readers for their ideas on identification. We received a very convincing proposal from the Italian art historian, Alessandro Morandotti who graciously accepted to present it in a short article. We would like to extend our thanks to him.

From what we can see in the photograph published by The Art Tribune, the Saint Cecilia in Dulwich (ill. 1 ; see news item of 3/1/12) proves its Ferrara origins rather than Bologna. The painting should be studied in connection with the production of Carlo Bononi (1569-1632), an artist frequently in contact with the Carracci (particularly with Ludovico, as proven here by Saint Cecilia’s head). I believe that the figure of the angel reclining on the cloud is practically the painter’s signature and the foreshortened head of Saint Cecilia compares well to the detail of Christ’s head in the only painting by Bononi found in old documents in France, that is Christ Adored by the Angels, Saint Sebastian and Saint Bernardino (ill. 2) held at the Louvre.

While maintaining the dialogue with Scarsellino, a constant reference point during his training, here Bononi reveals his own personal style, charming us with the brilliant quality of the draperies enveloping the saint : in pearl grays (worthy of Saraceni), yellows and bright greens.
A date close to 1620/1625 would be appropriate for this canvas, a period not too far from the artist’s presence in Reggio Emilia, where he worked at the Basilica della Ghiara (1622) and the church of San Pietro e Prospero (1622-1623).